Monthly Archives: August 2012

Intellectual Property for Businesspeople. Link to Adrienne B. Naumann’s blog Adrienne B. Naumann earned her jurisprudence degree with high honors and as a published member of the Law Review at Chicago–Kent College of Law. She earned her B.A. degree from … Continue reading →

When I first started blogging in October 2011, I had an idea of my first several weeks of postings. Since that time, I have written on things based on something I have seen, read, or experienced. This week’s post is a great example. A few days ago, I was reviewing my Twitter roll while I was out at a meeting and saw this gem from focus group moderator Shaili Bhatt. I almost hate to admit that I almost missed it. In my blog last week, I talked about how quantitative and qualitative research methods do not need to be mutually exclusive. However, the methods both have reasons for picking one over the other.

As a researcher or someone looking at needing research, understanding what is needed for the particular project is key. The point made in the tweet is nearly perfect. You want to use qualitative research to understand the “why’s” and not the “how many’s”. And this is not just for your customers, but also for potential customers and lost customers.

The “why’s” are just as important as the “how many’s”, maybe even more so based on the stage of the product’s life cycle. Qualitative research can help you understand:

-Why customer buy your products

-Why potential customers buy your competition over your services

-Why customers see features as important

-Why your target market might like one advertising program over another

There are other types of questions you can answer in qualitative studies like focus groups and in-depth interviews, but all the questions should be subjective in nature versus objective.

These are just a few examples of how qualitative research should be used and why you would consider using it over quantitative methodologies.

How could you use qualitative research in your business?

–J. Nolfo helps companies understand their market and customers though a variety of market research strategies. He has over ten years of experience of market research for strategic planning purposes. He is the Director of Research at Rhino Market Research. He shares his thoughts about market research and business concepts with his blog “Pensare…Understanding Market Research in Business“. If you would like to discuss this blog or how J. can help you understand your market and customer needs, email him at jnolfo@rhinomarketresearch.com.

When you were growing up, did you ever try taking apart a family appliance only to fail at reassembling it? For most kids, when Mom and Dad see the toaster splayed out across the kitchen floor, that’s usually the end of their mechanical aspirations. And then there is Dr. Lonnie Johnson, who as a child graduated from appliances to making rocket fuel. One time, a batch caught on fire. In the kitchen. In one of his mother’s saucepans. After the flames and black smoke cleared, he found that a couple of the kitchen chairs had holes where the flaming liquid had splattered and burned like napalm. But rather than stifling his curiosity, Lonnie’s parents handed him a hot plate and told him he needed to cook his rocket fuel outside.

When Inventors Eye asked Lonnie what got him interested in the way things worked, he said his dad would let him watch over his shoulder as he tinkered. “My father was not educated, but he was able to repair most things around the house, and that taught me some valuable skills,” Lonnie related. Receiving these valuable skills and encouragement from his parents lead him on the path to advanced degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering from Tuskegee University and a successful career working on Space Shuttle Atlantis, the B-2 Stealth Bomber, and NASA’s Galileo and Cassini missions, until he got the urge to become a full-time independent inventor. Johnson now has over 100 patents or pending patents.

Many people may recognize Lonnie as the inventor of the Super Soaker (patent number 5,074,437), but he is much more than just squirt guns. The good doctor is currently figuring out ways to reduce humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels and particularly the United States’ reliance on foreign oil. He is working on what he calls the “next generation” battery and the “next next generation” battery. The next generation battery uses a solid-state configuration and will replace the current batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles. The next next generation battery relies on sophisticated lithium glass to produce power. Lonnie said that this advanced battery is about one-and-a-half to two years away from commercial production. Both of these technologies do not involve fluids in the production and storage of electric power—a true innovation over today’s batteries.

Another promising project is the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Conversion System or JTEC (pronounced “JAY-tek”). This solid-state heat engine converts heat energy into electrical energy by using pressure to force hydrogen atoms through a membrane-electrode assembly, stripping the electrons from the atoms and moving them through an external circuit. The JTEC is estimated to be about twice as efficient as today’s solar Stirling engines, which use moving parts to generate mechanical energy.

Lonnie used much of the proceeds from the Super Soaker to fund the JTEC and now relies on funding from grants and other resources. Despite the JTEC’s promise, Lonnie said the project has taught him that “you may not want to invest all your funds in research.” If he had to do it all over again, he said he would probably have worked on the heat engine first and then the batteries—not the other way around.

Lonnie wrote his first patent application for a digital distance measuring device and received patent number 4,143,267 in 1979. The invention, as stated in the patent, “uses a mechanical analog-to-digital converter to measure distance. The distance measured is supplied in binary encoded decimal to an electronic decoder for decoding and subsequent decimal display.” Lonnie explained that this device preceded the use of digital optical readers in applications such as CDs and DVDs. “I was having so much fun working on advanced space systems that I didn’t take time to focus on it,” he said. By the time he realized he wanted to be an independent inventor, it was too late. The measuring device was “the big fish that got away,” he quipped.

At first, Lonnie had also tried to write the patent for the Super Soaker himself, but after getting an initial rejection letter from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, he contacted a patent attorney. Children all over the world should rejoice at this wise decision, as he went on to receive the patent for the now famous and immensely profitable squirt gun.

Lonnie has some advice for inventors. “Know that no one has a lock on any technology,” he said. “Those who have skill in the art can understand it and make it better. When talking with investors or people that could possibly buy or license your technology, make sure that you demonstrate how the invention works and why it will make money. You can’t make money without getting people interested in the invention.”